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24 Cath. Law. 327 (1978-1979)
The Doctrine of Comity in Private International Law

handle is hein.journals/cathl24 and id is 337 raw text is: THE DOCTRINE OF COMITY IN PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW JOHN KUHN BLEIMAIER* The doctrine of comity is the legal principle which dictates that a jurisdiction recognize and give effect to judicial decrees and decisions rendered in other jurisdictions' unless to do so would offend its public policy.' Although rooted in the Middle Ages,' comity continues to be a viable doctrine, because it facilitates the achievement of a primary objec- tive of law-the orderly, consistent and final resolution of disputes. Comity has received rather scant attention in American jurisprudence due to the constitutional requirement that each state accord full faith and credit to judgments rendered in the courts of sister states. Historically, the American legal system has depended more heavily on interstate questions * B.A., Columbia College; M.I.A., Columbia University School of International Affairs; J.D., St. John's University. Brown v. Babbitt Ford, Inc., 117 Ariz. App. 192, 571 P.2d 689 (Ct. App. 1977); Kellogg- Citizens Nat'l Bank v. Felton, 145 Fla. 68, 199 So. 50 (1940); Jackson v. Shuttleworth, 42 Ill. App. 2d 257, 192 N.E.2d 217 (App. Ct. 1963). In the leading American case on the comity of nations, the Supreme Court of the United States defined the doctrine as follows: Comity, in the legal sense, is neither a matter of absolute obligation, on the one hand, nor of mere courtesy and good will, upon the other. But it is the recognition which one nation allows within its territory to the legislative, executive or judicial acts of another nation, having due regard both to international duty and convenience, and to the rights of its own citizens or of other persons who are under the protection of its laws. Hilton v. Guyot, 159 U.S. 113, 163-64 (1895). The idea that comity connotes mere courtesy has led some commentators to criticize the doctrine as the underlying basis for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. See DicEY's CONFLICT OF LAWS 6-7 (6th ed. J. Morris 1949); H. GOODRICH, CONFLICT OF LAWS 11 (3d ed. 1949). This criticism rests solely on defini- tional grounds. Russian Socialist Fed. Soviet Republic v. Cibrario, 235 N.Y. 255, 258, 139 N.E. 259, 260 (1923). Joseph Story, one of early America's great legal scholars, was aware of this criticism as early as 1834. Nevertheless, he defended the use of the term comity as the most appropriate phrase to express the true foundation and extent of the obligation of the laws of one nation within the territories of another. J. STORY, COMMENTARIES ON THE CONFLICT OF LAWS § 38, at 37 (1834) (footnote omitted). Bostrom v. Seguros Tepeyac, S.A., 225 F. Supp. 222 (N.D. Tex. 1963), ,todified, 347 F.2d 168 (5th Cir. 1965); Helton v. Crawley, 241 Iowa 296, 41 N.W.2d 60, 79 (1950); Anderson v. N.V. Transandine Handelmaatschappij, 289 N.Y. 9, 19, 43 N.E.2d 502, 506 (1942); SToRY, supra note 1, § 38; see note 16 infra. 3 See STORY, supra note 1, §§ 19-38; Yntema, The Historic Bases of Private International Law, 2 AM. J. COMP. L. 297, 305-08 (1953). See also Huber's De Conflictu Legum, 13 ILL. L. REv. 375 (1919), reprinted in E. LORENZEN, SELECTED ARTICLES ON THE CONFLICT OF LAWS 136 (1947).

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